beshear

See also: Beshear

English

Etymology

From Middle English bischeren, from Old English besċieran, besċeran (“to shear, shave, cut hair, give the tonsure”), from Proto-West Germanic *biskeran (“to cut off”), equivalent to be- (“around, off, away”) +‎ shear. Cognate with Saterland Frisian beskere, West Frisian beskeare, Dutch bescheren, German Low German bescheren, German bescheren.

Verb

beshear (third-person singular simple present beshears, present participle beshearing, simple past beshore or besheared, past participle beshorn or besheared)

1. (transitive) To shear or shave off; shear or shave all over.
   • 1871, Hector A. Stuart, Ben Nebo: A Pilgrimage in the South Seas in Three Cantos, page 30:

     Eld trees arise: grim druids of the wood, Long since beshorn of their prime loveliness, Solemn they frown upon the solitude; […]

   • 1898, William Morris, Tale of Beowulf, page 156:

     Wiglaf mine lief, now that lieth the Worm
     And sleepeth sore wounded, beshorn of his treasure; […]

Anagrams

• Basheer, behears, beshare, he-bears, she-bear